Suriname leader's son gets 16 years US prison for Hezbollah aid

NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters) - The son of Suriname's
president was sentenced on Tuesday to 16-1/4 years in prison,
after pleading guilty last August to U.S. charges that he tried
to offer a home base to the Lebanese paramilitary group
Hezbollah.

Dino Bouterse, 42, who worked in a Suriname counterterrorist
unit, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in
Manhattan. Bouterse had also admitted to drug trafficking and
firearms charges.

U.S. prosecutors accused Bouterse of inviting people he
thought were from Hezbollah to establish a base in his home
country, located north of Brazil, in exchange for $2 million
that was ultimately not paid.

Bouterse was arrested by Panamanian authorities after a
sting in which he allegedly talked about his activities with
confidential informants from the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.

Hezbollah has since 1997 been designated by the U.S. State
Department as a foreign terrorist organization.

Dressed in a blue-gray shirt and pants, Bouterse said prior
to sentencing that "what I did does not really represent my
country," and that his imprisonment would hurt his 11 children,
aged 2 to 19.

"I really regret my actions, and I am deeply, deeply, deeply
ashamed of myself," he said. "I take full responsibility."

Prosecutors had urged that Bouterse spend 30 years to life
in prison, in accordance with recommended federal guidelines.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Lockard said this reflected
Bouterse's agreement to "open up his country" to terrorist
camps, and a need to deter other government officials "willing
to sell access."

But the judge said the guidelines were "fundamentally
unfair," given that Bouterse appeared motivated by a desire to
make "a lot of money" rather than help terrorists. She also said
the sting meant Hezbollah had no actual role to begin with.

"Nothing in his history shows that he is a terrorist, or
that he had terrorist sympathies," Scheindlin said. "His greed
got the better of him."

After the sentencing, family members blew kisses to
Bouterse, who smiled and gave a thumbs-up sign. He had been in
federal custody since being transported to the United States.

Richard Rosenberg, a lawyer for Bouterse, called the
sentence "very harsh," but was glad Scheindlin "underscored the
lack of any clear connection to any actual terrorism."

Bouterse's father, Desi Bouterse, ruled Suriname after a
coup from 1980 to 1987, and has been accused of human rights
violations. He reclaimed power in 2010 when he was elected
president.

The case is U.S. v. Bouterse, U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York, No. 13-cr-00635.